US Department of State - Human Rights Report 2015

MOLDOVA 2015 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all references in this report exclude the secessionist
region of Transnistria.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Moldova is a republic with a form of parliamentary democracy. The constitution
provides for a multiparty democracy with legislative and executive branches, as
well as an independent judiciary and a clear separation of powers. Legislative
authority is vested in the unicameral parliament. Pro-European parties retained a
parliamentary majority in November 2014 elections that met most Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe, and other
international commitments, though local and international observers raised legal
and procedural concerns about the inclusion and exclusion of specific political
parties. In January authorities announced a ruling minority pro-European
coalition, which was in place for the following six months. In July a new majority
pro-European coalition formed following the resignation of the prime minister
amid controversy over the lack of investigation into banking sector fraud and
allegations that he had forged his university diploma. In October the coalition
government fell in a no-confidence vote in parliament following political turmoil
over the lifting of parliamentary immunity and subsequent arrest of a former prime
minister and coalition leader on charges of corruption. Civilian authorities
maintained effective control over the security forces.
Widespread corruption continued to be the most significant human rights problem.
The embezzlement of almost one billion dollars from the national banking system
led to accusations of government complicity in high-level corruption and the arrest
and questioning of prominent political figures allegedly involved in the theft. Poor
conditions, mistreatment, and abuse in psychiatric and social care homes remained
a concern.
Other significant problems included continued monopolization of the media
market, which allegedly served the interests of political figures; cases of torture
and mistreatment of detainees; harsh and overcrowded prison and detention center
conditions; domestic violence; trafficking in persons; discrimination against Roma;
harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI)
individuals; societal and official discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS;
limited enforcement of workers rights; and child labor.
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While authorities investigated reports of official abuse in the security services and
elsewhere, they rarely successfully prosecuted and punished officials accused of
human rights violations, complicity in trafficking, or corruption. Impunity was a
major problem.
In 1990 separatists declared a Transdniester Moldovan Republic (Transnistria)
along the eastern border with Ukraine. A 1992 ceasefire agreement established a
peacekeeping force of Moldovan, Russian, and Transnistrian units. The central
government did not exercise authority in the region, and Transnistrian authorities
governed through parallel administrative structures. Transnistrian authorities
restricted political activity and interfered with the ability of Moldovan citizens
living in Transnistria to vote in the 2014 Moldovan elections. There were regular
reports that police engaged in torture, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions, and
pressure on Latin-script schools.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or
unlawful killings during the year.
The government made little progress in holding officials accountable for the
security force crackdown on postelection demonstrations in 2009 that resulted in
three deaths. In April 2014 parliament adopted a law that cancelled the statute of
limitations for abuses committed in 2009. In May 2014 the Constitutional Court
declared the cancellation of the statute of limitations unconstitutional. As a result a
number of persons who committed minor violations during the 2009 protests
escaped criminal liability.
In February the Court of Appeals sentenced the former Chisinau police
commissioner Vladimir Botnari to two years in prison with a suspended sentence
and the former minister of internal affairs Gheorghe Papuc to four years in prison
for their actions during the 2009 riots. The two appealed the ruling, and on June
30, the Supreme Court of Justice acquitted them, reversing both prison sentences
but fining Papuc 20,000 lei ($998). The Supreme Court of Justice decision was
final.
In April the European Court of Human Rights found Russia in violation of Article
2 of the European Convention (the right to life) in the case of Vadim Pisari, who
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015
United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
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was fatally shot by a Russian peacekeeper in the Transnistrian region in 2012. The
court did not consider adequate a Russian investigation into the incident.
Furthermore, Russia refused to recognize Vadims parents as victims. The court
ordered Russia to pay 35,000 euros ($38,500) in damages and 5,580 euros ($6,140)
in legal expenses. The court struck down the component of the application that
brought a case against the Moldovan authorities.
In September the Court of Appeals sentenced three police officials from the Scut
special squad to six years in prison and a two-year ban from holding office within
the Ministry of Internal Affairs for beating a man in a police station in 2005, which
caused severe injuries and led to his death. The case was a retrial after the courts
originally acquitted the defendants in 2009.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
While the law prohibits such practices, reports of physical abuse and torture by
police continued. Police abuse slightly decreased but remained a problem.
Physical abuse, including inhuman and degrading treatment, also reportedly
continued in prisons and psychiatric institutions.
Under the criminal code, conviction for torture carries up to a 10-year prison
sentence. Persons found guilty of torturing minors, pregnant women, persons with
disabilities, or committing acts of torture that lead to death or suicide, may be
sentenced to up to 15 years in prison without the possibility of amnesty. A
deliberate act by a public official that leads to physical or psychological suffering
is punishable by imprisonment of two to six years or a fine of 7,500 to 9,900 lei
($373 to $493) and a ban on holding public office. The law prohibits courts from
granting suspended sentences to persons convicted of torture.
A report this year by the Prosecutor Generals Office showed the lowest number of
torture cases within a one-year period in the past four years. According to the
report, law enforcement officers perpetrated most alleged acts of torture.
During the first half of the year, the Prosecutor Generals Office received 319
allegations of torture and mistreatment, 120 of which involved criminal police, 48
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traffic police, and 87 other police units, including the Carabinieri (a special police
force responsible for public order and border policing), and customs officers.
Prosecutors initiated 53 criminal cases and sent 22 cases to court. In 10 cases the
victims were minors. Police officials purportedly applied torture to obtain
confessions, punish the victim for an offense or alleged offense, show seniority and
authority over the victims, to intimidate, or discriminate. Most of the alleged
incidents occurred on the street or in public places, followed by police stations and
detention facilities. Psychiatric institutions registered two torture cases, and
educational facilities registered another two. Most incidents involved beatings
(199 allegations), followed by threats or other forms of psychological abuse (45
allegations), and special methods, such as batons, water bottles, and books (17
allegations). Police continued to use torture methods that did not leave physical
traces. Experts noted that psychological torture and humiliating treatment were
common in penitentiaries and psychiatric institutions.
The Human Rights Ombudsman made 128 preventive and monitoring visits to
penitentiaries, psychiatric institutions, and army facilities during the period of
January-November 2014. The main deficiencies found included overcrowding of
the detention facilities; insufficient lighting; poor sanitary conditions; insufficient
food for those in pretrial detention facilities; and deficient medical care for
detainees. The ombudsman alerted the Prosecutor Generals Office to four
potential criminal cases and issued 22 recommendations to the institutions that
committed the violations. The ombudsman reported most allegations of torture
and inhuman detention conditions at Penitentiary No. 13 in Chisinau, Penitentiary
No. 2 in Lipcani, Penitentiary No. 15 in Cricova, and Penitentiary No. 18 in
Branesti.
In January the Supreme Court of Justice sentenced two police officers to five
years imprisonment and a three-year ban from holding office within law
enforcement. In 2008 the officers applied torture to obtain confessions from a
victim in a police station. The two officers severely beat the victim and made him
sign a confession of guilt. Authorities sent the case to court but delayed it for
multiple years. In 2013 a lower court acquitted the two defendants. Prosecutors
appealed the ruling, and in 2014 the Chisinau Court of Appeals issued a five-year
suspended sentence with three years probation. Prosecutors appealed the decision
again, and in January the Supreme Court of Justice issued the final ruling on the
case.
Despite a slight decrease in torture cases, impunity for torture and inhuman or
degrading treatment remained a norm during the year.
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Authorities downgraded to lesser offenses some incidents of alleged police torture,

such as abuse of power, for which the penalties are lower and the statute of
limitations is only three months. This practice allowed judges to issue suspended
sentences based on the good character of the offending officers or to dismiss
cases if the statute of limitations had expired.
Despite some progress, authorities failed to prosecute high-level officials involved
in police abuse related to the 2009 postelection events. On March 30, the Chisinau
Court of Appeals sentenced police officer Ion Perju to 10 years in prison for
exceeding authority and intentional infliction of serious bodily harm that led to the
death of protester Valeriu Boboc in 2009. Police did not immediately take Perju
into custody, and he fled the courtroom before the sentence was read, and he
remained at large at years end. His lawyer filed an appeal to the Supreme Court
of Justice, which on December 15 upheld the lower court decision.
In February the Court of Appeals issued a two-year suspended sentence to former
Chisinau police commissioner Vladimir Botnari and a four-year prison sentence to
former minister of internal affairs Gheorghe Papuc for actions and omissions
related to 2009 riots that led to police officers allegedly torturing 91 persons. On
June 30, the Supreme Court of Justice acquitted Botnari and fined Papuc for their
roles in the events. The Prosecutor Generals Office stated they considered the
acquittal of the former officials unjustified and that the Supreme Court of Justice
did not act in accordance with procedural law and other relevant requirements,
specifically as the court examined the case without summoning the parties
involved. Although the Supreme Court of Justice decision is irrevocable, the
Prosecutor Generals Office stated they would consider intervening by
extraordinary measures.
In May 2014 the Chisinau Appeals Court sentenced police officer Radu Starinschi
to two years in prison for the torture of Sergiu Cretu, a protester detained in
Chisinau following the 2009 parliamentary elections. In June, however, based on a
Constitutional Court ruling, which declared the cancellation of the statute of
limitations unconstitutional, the appeals court reviewed its decision and ordered the
suspension of the sentences execution until a final Supreme Court of Justice
ruling.
According to both the ombudsman for psychiatric institutions and international
monitors, humiliating and degrading treatment of patients confined in psychoneurological institutions remained a major problem. Following her most recent
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visit to the country in September, Catalina Devandas-Aguilar, the UN special

rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, commended the legislative
framework on the social inclusion of persons with disabilities but also noted some
findings of concern regarding persons with disabilities in institutional settings,
including residential psychiatric facilities and psychoneurological residential
institutions. The rapporteur noted that authorities locked up children and adults
with disabilities--sometimes for their entire lives--in inhuman conditions and also
neglected and treated them in inhuman ways. There were also allegations of
physical, mental, and sexual abuse perpetrated in these institutions.
An April report by the Legal Assistance Center for Persons with Disabilities noted
that psychoneurological residential institutions lacked clear guidelines for resident
density. For example, in the Balti psychoneurological hospital, authorities placed
only two to three residents in one ward, whereas a similar-sized ward in the
psychoneurological hospital in Badiceni hosted up to 20 persons. According to the
report, 10 percent of the residents in the psychoneurological residential institutions
did not have government-issued identification cards, preventing them from having
access to rights such as voting and marriage as well as services such as a bank
account. Additionally, the residents did not benefit directly from social monetary
benefits, which authorities transferred directly to the accounts of medical
institutions instead.
There were credible reports of forced medication, forced abortion, work
exploitation, and physical and sexual abuse in psychiatric hospitals under the
Ministry of Health. Legal proceedings continued in the case of a doctor at the
institution in Balti arrested in 2013 for the serial sexual assault and abuse of
patients. An investigation showed that the doctor performed 18 forced abortions
on the victims of his sexual assaults, all patients with mental disabilities.
Authorities found dead one of the 17 victims identified during the investigations in
January 2014, while a second died under unknown circumstances in April 2014.
The doctor remained under house arrest.
In 2014, in response to detainee complaints, authorities charged seven employees
of Penitentiary No. 5 in Cahul, including the prison director, with torture and the
application of inhuman and degrading treatment. According to military
prosecutors, the employees used torture against three detainees, including two
minors, between 2010 and 2012. The prison director allegedly threatened the
detainees with physical reprimand and told them to withdraw their complaint and
change their testimony, leading prosecutors to transfer the detainees to other
detention facilities. In September the Military Court sentenced the prison director
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and four employees to six years and five years imprisonment, respectively. The
court issued fines to the other two prison employees. All seven received a fiveyear ban from holding office within the penitentiary system.
In 2014 military prosecutors recorded 370 offenses in the army and initiated 168
criminal cases, 106 of which on military offenses, and 48 civilian law. Most
offenses included hazing (37 cases), followed by desertions (30 cases), violence
against conscripts in the army (25 cases), abuse of power (seven cases), and other
offenses (seven cases).
In October military prosecutors announced the initiation of six criminal cases
against hazing and abuse of power within the armed forces. On December 16, the
Chisinau Court of Appeals sentenced a service member from the Chisinau Guard
Regiment to two years imprisonment for ill-treating four fellow service members.
According to the prosecutors, the service member applied violence to the victims
for allegedly not properly saluting, working too slowly, or not reporting when
finishing their work.
According to a 2014 report released by the human rights NGO Promo-Lex, the use
of torture and inhuman treatment by the representatives of the de facto
Transnistrian authorities was the norm, and Transnistrian societys tolerance
towards torture contributed to its prevalence. Promo-Lex noted authorities
perpetrated most inhuman and degrading treatment in the Transnistrian region to
obtain self-incriminating confessions. Another concern Pro-Lex highlighted was
the so-called educational/instructive cells, where detainees, instigated by the prison
guards, applied physical or sexual abuse against fellow inmates to obtain
confessions.
Hazing and humiliating treatment in the de facto Transnistrian army continued
during the year. According to deserters who fled the region, hazing was a norm,
and authorities constantly subjected younger conscripts to degrading and
humiliating treatment. Officers reportedly ignored the phenomenon and did not
attempt to remedy the situation.
In June human rights organizations appealed to the authorities to provide for the
rehabilitation of torture victims from the Transnistrian region. The NGOs
highlighted the lack of monitoring or protection mechanisms for torture victims in
the region.
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
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Conditions in most prisons and detention centers, including those in Transnistria,

remained harsh and did not improve significantly during the year.
Physical Conditions: Prisons and detention centers were overcrowded. As of
October the total number of prisoners and pretrial detainees was 7,813, with 5,306
inmates in prisons and 2,507 individuals in pretrial detention centers. The official
maximum capacity was 6,019 inmates for prisons and 2,635 for pretrial detention
centers, but the human rights ombudsman and human rights monitors asserted that
overcrowding in certain prisons and detention centers persisted.
In their 2014 visits to penitentiaries and pretrial detention facilities, representatives
from the governments Center for Human Rights noted overcrowding, lack of
medical care, poor lighting, deficient meals, and poor hygiene and sanitary
conditions. The Human Rights Ombudsman institution noted a decrease in
allegations of torture in 2014. The inmates of Penitentiary No. 13 in Chisinau,
Penitentiary No. 2 in Lipcani, Penitentiary No. 15 in Cricova, and Penitentiary No.
18 in Branesti sent the most complaints. The inmates complained of
overcrowding, insufficient lighting, and lack of minimum sanitary standards.
Observers reported the worst conditions were reported at Penitentiary No. 13 in
Chisinau, especially in the cells located in the prison basement. Conditions in
these facilities did not meet national or international standards. Cells were
overcrowded (in some cells up to 16 inmates were placed in an area measuring 24
square meters, or 258 square feet), unhygienic (toilets separated from the sleeping
area only by a curtain; mold and dirt on the walls), and lacked ventilation or
permanent access to water for personal hygiene. The human rights ombudsman,
Amnesty International Moldova, as well as officials from the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called again for the closure of the
facility.
During visits to police stations in 2014, the ombudsman observed that, while
conditions in some pretrial facilities improved, others still were below the required
standards. The lack of minimum necessary conditions for food distribution;
inadequate sanitary conditions in the showers; inadequate health-care facilities; and
lack of pillows, mattresses, and clean bed linen and clothing were the most
common problems in pretrial detention facilities. The facilities, located mostly in
the basements of police stations, generally lacked access to natural light, adequate
ventilation, and sewage systems. Inmates had a daily food budget of
approximately 20 lei ($1). Human rights NGOs also noted that pretrial detainees
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were not provided any meals on the days of court hearings. This problem was
particularly severe for detainees transported from afar to stand trial, which in some
cases meant they received no food for a day. Transportation conditions for pretrial
detainees were also deficient.
Health care was inadequate in most penitentiaries. Government regulations require
authorities to separate individuals suspected of suffering from tuberculosis from
the other detainees. Authorities often co-located individuals with various other
diseases with persons with an unconfirmed diagnosis of tuberculosis, potentially
exposing them to infection.
Most of the European Court of Human Rights judgments against Moldova in 2014
concerned the inhuman and degrading conditions in prisons (63 in 81 judgments).
Observers alleged inhuman detention conditions at the Penitentiary No. 13 in 20
cases. The complainants accused authorities of ignoring the ombudsmans
repeated requests to close the penitentiary, which has a capacity of 800 inmates but
held more than 1,200 persons, resulting in up to 16 inmates being collocated in a
single 33-square-meter (355 square foot) cell.
Police mistreatment of detainees remained a major problem in Transnistria.
International reports noted that authorities widely applied torture in prisons and
pretrial detention facilities in the region. There are no mechanisms for torture
victims to seek remedy, protection, or justice. According to former detainees in
Transnistria and human rights NGOs, detention facilities in Transnistria did not
conform to international norms and did not meet minimum requirements for longterm detention. Of the de facto Transnistrian authorities self-reporting of 3,000
detainees held in the three penitentiaries in Transnistria, 118 were women and 135
were minors. Unofficial sources estimated a much higher number of detainees.
The cells were overcrowded, and most cells lacked a lavatory and proper
ventilation. Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS were major health problems in the
prisons. The mortality rate was high, especially among inmates infected with
tuberculosis.
Administration: The main alternative to incarceration in the country was the
conditional suspension of the sentence, the equivalent of probation. Sentence
suspension was available to both juveniles and adults, provided the crime was not
serious and the offender had no prior convictions. Probation was for a fixed term
of between one and five years. In many cases public officials and law enforcement
officers convicted of various offenses received suspended sentences. Other

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alternative sentences included community service and fines. The court may not
impose community service on convicted juveniles younger than age 16.
Prisoners in the initial period of their sentences and those serving life sentences do
not have the right to long-term visits. Detainees and their relatives reported a
burdensome process for obtaining visit permits, which often impeded such visits.
Internal complaints and investigation procedures in the penitentiary system were
weak, and detainees continued to have restricted access to complaint mechanisms.
While detainees generally had the right to submit complaints to judicial authorities,
some detainees reported censorship and punishment by prison personnel or other
inmates before or after filing complaints.
Reliable information on the administration of prisons in the Transnistria region was
generally not available.
Independent Monitoring: The government permitted independent monitoring of
prison conditions by local and international human rights observers, and prison
officials generally allowed observers to interview inmates in private.
There were no reports of any independent monitoring of the detention facilities in
the Transnistrian region during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, but there were cases when
authorities failed to observe these prohibitions.
According to Promo-Lex, Moldovan police routinely detained persons sought by
the unrecognized Transnistrian authorities and transferred them to Transnistrian
law enforcement agencies without due process. Moldovan courts previously ruled
the 1999 agreement establishing such cooperation to be unconstitutional, but the
practice continued informally.
In Transnistria authorities reportedly engaged in the arbitrary arrest and detention
of individuals with impunity. There were cases of Transnistrian authorities
detaining individuals on fabricated charges without due process.
Role of the Police and Security Apparatus

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The national police force is the primary law enforcement body and is responsible
for internal security, public order, traffic, migration, and border enforcement. It is
subdivided into criminal and public order police and is subordinate to the Ministry
of Internal Affairs. The agencies under the ministry are the General Police
Inspectorate, Border Police, Civil Protection Service, Carabineers, and Bureau for
Migration and Asylum. The ministry made little progress in implementing reforms
to combat abuse and corruption.
The Division to Combat Torture in the Prosecutor Generals Office handled cases
of alleged torture by security forces. Every territorial prosecutors office in the
country had one or two prosecutors responsible for torture cases, with more than
70 such antitorture prosecutors overall.
The ombudsmans report on the national antitorture mechanism stated that
authorities with the power to investigate allegations of police abuse at times failed
to do so in a timely fashion.
Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees
The law allows judges to issue arrest warrants based on evidence from prosecutors.
Authorities must promptly inform detainees of the reasons for their arrest and
describe the charges against them. Authorities may detain suspects without charge
for 72 hours. In its most recent study on Safeguarding Procedural Guarantees in
the pretrial stage of the criminal process, released during the year, Amnesty
International found serious violations of the procedural norms during police
apprehension and pretrial detention. According to the study, in most cases,
authorities summoned the persons to the police station without a citation or took
them into police custody without informing them of the charges against them. In
many cases authorities forced the detained individuals or intimidated them into
providing confessions for the alleged crime in the absence of a lawyer. In some
cases the questioning in police custody exceeded the legally allowed three hours.
Other violations included the purposeful altering of protocols, detention in police
custody that exceeded the legally required timeframe, and denial of the right to a
lawyer or communication with relatives.
Once charged, a detainee may be released pending trial. The law provides for bail,
but it authorities generally did not use it due to a lack of practical mechanisms for
implementation.

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Detainees have the right to a defense attorney, but at times authorities restricted
this right. In some cases authorities did not grant detainees access to a lawyer until
24 hours after detention and often informed detainees of the charges against them
without a lawyer present. The government required the local bar association to
provide representation to indigent defendants, but the government delayed
reimbursements to lawyers for legal fees. Indigent defendants often did not have
adequate counsel.
Pretrial Detention: The law permits pretrial detention for up to 30 days. The
courts may extend pretrial detention upon the request of prosecutors, submitted at
the end of each 30-day period, for up to 12 months depending on the severity of the
charges. Seemingly unwarranted pretrial detention lasting several months was
common.
In Transnistria detentions cannot exceed 18 months during pretrial criminal
investigations and six months during the trial period, but limits were not observed.
The Transnistrian detention system also included temporary pretrial detention units
subordinated to the local interior ministry. The number of detainees in these
facilities was unknown. The practice of holding detainees for more than six
months without a court hearing remained common.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
While the law provides for an independent judiciary, instances of government
officials failing to respect judicial independence remained a problem. Despite
some improvements, official pressure on judges and corruption in the judiciary
continued and remained serious problems. Credible reports existed that local
prosecutors and judges sought bribes in return for reducing charges or sentences.
High-level officials, including the prime minister and the speaker of parliament,
admitted in public appearances that corruption in the judiciary was a major
problem for the country. Judges often failed to assign cases randomly or use
recording equipment in the courtroom. On October 19, parliament adopted
amendments to the criminal and contravention code that removed legal
inconsistencies on the mandatory audio and video recording of court hearings.
Following his latest visit to Moldova in December, Stefan Schennach, the
Chairperson of the Monitoring Committee of PACE, expressed concern about
oligarchic influence on state institutions, including the judiciary and law
enforcement agencies.

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A judicial code of ethics exists, and inspector judges are responsible for
investigating and reporting cases of judicial misconduct or ethical breaches to the
Superior Council of Magistrates. During the first half of the year, the disciplinary
board of the Superior Council of Magistrates initiated 25 disciplinary actions
against 23 judges and issued five warnings, three reprimands, and one
recommendation for dismissal. In April 2014 the Superior Council of Magistrates
stripped four judges of the former Chisinau Economic Court of Appeals of their
judicial immunity to allow the Prosecutor Generals Office to initiate criminal
cases against them. These judges were Aurel Colenco, the former chairman of the
Economic Court of Appeals; Ana Nogai and Eugeniu Clim, two judges at Chisinau
Court of Appeals; and Valeriu Harmaniuc, a judge at Balti Court of Appeals. The
Superior Council of Magistrates accused the judges of illegally maintaining an
obviously illegal decision of an inferior court, thus prejudicing the parties in the
trial and ignoring huge legal gaps. In October 2014 by a vote of six to four, the
council turned down the prosecutor generals request to launch criminal
proceedings against the four judges. Without the councils consent, the criminal
investigation against judges could not take place, and in December 2014 the
Anticorruption Prosecutors Office closed the criminal case against the four judges.
In February former deputy chairman of the Chisinau Court of Appeals Gheorghe
Cretu received a two-year suspended sentence for the negligent homicide of Sorin
Paciu. Additionally, the court ordered Cretu to pay approximately one million lei
($49,700) in damages to the victims relatives and a monthly stipend of 1,500 lei
($75) to the victims daughter until she is 18. Cretus appeal was pending in the
Balti Court of Appeal at years end.
According to the current Freedom House Nations in Transit report, the government
adopted necessary laws for fighting corruption but registered no significant results
in practice. The National Anticorruption Center started an integrity evaluation of
public servants and the preliminary results confirmed endemic corruption and
widespread bribery in the sector.
According to the 2014 Transparency Internationals Corruption Perceptions Index,
bribery rates in the country remained relatively high, and the study perceived the
judiciary as the sector most affected by corruption, followed by the political parties
and parliament. The report noted that observers saw government interference in
the delivery of civil and criminal justice to be among the reasons why corruption
levels remained high. The report also noted concerns with numerous allegations
brought against judges by the National Anticorruption Center and the fact that 80
percent of citizens perceived the judiciary to be corrupt or extremely corrupt.
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While, for the first time, courts convicted several judges for receiving bribes in
2014, these cases were relatively minor, and the general perception remained that
the judiciary continued to protect its own members.
In January a law went into effect to introduce disciplinary sanctioning of judges for
acts of corruption, limit judicial immunity, and allow authorities to confiscate
property in cases involving money laundering and illicit enrichment. Authorities
made little progress in enforcing the new law. Authorities made amendments to a
number of other laws to bring them in in line with the new law.
Military courts have jurisdiction over crimes committed by active duty, reserve,
and retired military personnel. Military courts may also try civilians for crimes
committed against military personnel.
Trial Procedures
Although the law provides defendants in criminal cases the presumption of
innocence, authorities did not always respect this presumption. On occasion
judges remarks jeopardized the presumption of innocence. As part of judicial
reforms, the government continued court renovations and initiated the
reconstruction of several major courts, including the Chisinau Court of Appeals
and the Balti Court of Appeals to provide for adequate court space.
Defendants have the right to be informed promptly and in detail of the charges and
a fair and public trial without undue delay. Prosecutors present cases to a judge or
to a panel of judges. Defendants have the right to a lawyer and to attend
proceedings, confront witnesses, and present evidence. The law requires the local
bar association provide an attorney to indigent defendants. The practice of
appointing temporary defense lawyers without allowing them to prepare
adequately was common and infringed upon the right to legal assistance. The law
provides a right to appeal convictions to a higher court.
In Transnistria there were credible reports during the year that authorities
disregarded trial procedures and denied defendants a fair trial.
Political Prisoners and Detainees
On September 6, police detained Grigore Petrenco, the leader of the opposition
Red Bloc Party, and five other activists during an antigovernment protest that
ended in scuffles with security forces. Several police officers were slightly
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injured. While under investigation, authorities extended Petrencos and the others
detention several times. A representative for Petrenco reported that the
penitentiarys administration refused to allow a specialized medical exam
following his exposure to areas visited by TB-infected inmates. The lawyer also
claimed a number of procedural violations occurred prior to and during court
proceedings. Representatives of some political parties and some members of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe asserted that the arrests were
politically motivated, and issued statements calling on the authorities to release the
detainees and provide for the freedoms of expression and assembly as well as the
right to protest.
On March 18, Transnistrian law enforcement agents detained Transnistrian
journalist and outspoken critic of the Transnistrian authorities Sergey Ilchenko on
charges of sedition and extremism. Transnistrian KGB agents came to his home
and confiscated his computer and reporting equipment. A few days after the
detention, a court ruled in a secret hearing to extend Ilchenkos detention for two
months pending an investigation. Ilchenko received amnesty and set free on July
17. After travelling to Chisinau, Ilchenko stated authorities placed him under
psychological pressure and forced him to sign a confession after denying all
charges for almost four months; otherwise, he alleged he could have faced an even
longer jail term on charges of setting up a terrorist organization, an offense that is
not covered by the amnesty law.
Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies
The law allows citizens to seek damages in civil courts for human rights violations.
Under the constitution the government is liable when authorities violate a persons
rights by administrative means, fail to reply in a timely manner to an application
for relief, or commit misconduct during prosecution. Judgments awarded in such
cases were often small and not enforced. Once all avenues for legal remedy are
exhausted, individuals may appeal cases involving the governments alleged
violation of rights provided under the European Convention on Human Rights to
the European Court of Human Rights.
While the government declared a zero-tolerance policy toward torture, victims of
alleged torture frequently lacked access to effective judicial remedies, especially in
cases involving mistreatment in penal institutions.

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A mediation law establishes an alternative mechanism for voluntarily resolving

civil and criminal cases and sets forth rules for professional mediators, but the
country lacked an implementation mechanism.
As of July there were 1,357 cases pending against the country in the European
Court of Human Rights. Most complaints concerned detention conditions, torture,
inhuman and degrading treatment, failure to carry out judgments, property rights,
and the right to a fair trial. In 2014 the court delivered 24 judgments against the
state and ordered the government to pay 200,000 euros ($220,000) in damages.
During the first nine months of the year, the court issued 18 rulings against
Moldova. The government generally complied with court orders promptly. From
2010-15 the government paid over 48 million lei ($2.4 million) in damages due to
the European Court of Human Rights rulings against the state.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The constitution prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home or
correspondence, unless necessary to ensure state security, economic welfare,
public order or prevent crimes. The government generally upheld the law.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
While the law provides for freedom of speech and press, authorities did not always
respect these rights. Individuals could criticize the government publicly and
privately without reprisal.
Freedom of Speech and Expression: Freedom Houses current assessment
categorized the media sector as partially free.
On several occasions since 2012, the courts convicted public figures and fined
them for expressing opinions deemed hate speech or incitement to
discrimination. On September 16, however, the Supreme Court of Justice
overruled judgments issued by two lower courts in 2014, in which the courts found
Bishop Marchel liable for hate speech and incitement to discrimination against
LGBTI individuals. The court claimed to have based its decision on the principle
of freedom of expression. The LGTBI NGO Genderdoc-M stated it considered the
Supreme Court of Justice decision homophobic and discriminatory.

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In Transnistria authorities limited freedom of speech and press and the situation
worsened during the year, according to local monitoring NGOs. Local human
rights activists noted that authorities subjected alternative viewpoints to censorship
and reprisals. Most newspapers from the rest of the country did not circulate
widely in Transnistria, although they were available in Tiraspol.
After the arrest of journalist Sergey Ilchenko in March (see section 1.d., Political
Prisoners), the Transnistrian Committee for State Security (KGB) issued a warning
to other activists and published a list of Ukrainian citizens who posted on social
networks items the KGB contended were extremist messages and statements that
attack the integrity of Transnistria. The Transnistrian KGB warned internet users
to form their opinions based solely on official sources and to keep in mind the goal
of defending the Transnistrian statehood.
Press and Media Freedoms: The law prohibits the editing and publishing of
literature that contains denial and defamation of the state and the people; calls for
war or aggression; appeals to ethnic, racial, or religious hatred; [or] incitement of
discrimination, territorial separatism, or public violence.
While the print media expressed diverse political views and commentary, the
government and political figures owned or subsidized a number of newspapers that
expressed clearly defined political views. The government owned the Moldpress
News Agency; and local and city governments subsidized approximately 23
newspapers and generally influenced their reporting. Political parties and
professional organizations also published newspapers.
Large media outlets, often associated with leaders of political factions or oligarchs,
exerted pressure on smaller outlets, which brought several to the brink of closing
and prompted prominent journalists to leave key outlets acquired by oligarchs.
These oligarchs closely supervised content and maintained editorial control over
reporting from the outlets they owned.
The role of online media continued to increase, providing a variety of perspectives
on political, economic, and social developments. The number of online visitors to
news portals exceeded subscribers to major newspapers with national coverage.
On March 5, parliament adopted amendments to the audiovisual code to make
transparent the names of media institutions owners. The law entered into effect
on November 1 and by November 10, all television and radio stations had to make
public the names of their owners. Despite progress increased monopolization of
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media and the advertising market, especially in television, adversely affected

media freedom. Civil society and media representatives also noted that the
advertising distribution company Casa Media was a monopoly.
The election of the public broadcaster Teleradio Moldovas new president on June
4 by its Board of Observers raised the concern of civil society. Major independent
media NGOs requested the annulment of the results due to unclear criteria used in
the selection process, which they believed resulted in the election of an individual
who lacked the requisite knowledge and experience for the position.
NGOs that monitored the media noted lack of pluralism in the coverage of local
election campaigns in May. According to monitoring reports, major media outlets,
some owned by political leaders with nationwide coverage, promoted certain
election candidates and disfavored others. Out of the three nationwide television
channels in Moldova, which NGOs monitored during the campaign, two, owned by
the same individual, promoted a single political party. News programs provided
biased news and did not provide for multiple sources, presenting some candidates
only in a positive context and others only in a negative context. In the majority of
cases, these media outlets did not provide for the right to reply for the criticized
parties or candidates (see section 3, Political Parties and Political Participation).
In Transnistria both of the regions major newspapers, Pridnestrovie and
Dnestrovskaya Pravda, were official publications of the separatist administration.
Authorities harassed other small, independent newspapers for publishing reports
critical of the regime.
Transnistrias largest commercial entity, Sheriff Enterprises, owned several
broadcast networks, including the TSV television station and the INTER-FM radio
station. Transnistrian authorities operated the television station Pervyy
Pridnestrovskiy. The local press practiced self-censorship and avoided subjects
questioning the Transnistrian goal of independence or criticizing the pro-Russian
foreign policy.
Violence and Harassment: In October authorities denied entry at the Chisinau
Airport to crew members from the Russian television channel Rossiya-24 Ilya
Naletov and Andrei Urchuk, who expected to visit the country to cover a soccer
match. In September authorities prevented three journalists from the Russian
television channel LifeNews from entering the country to cover protests. Similar
incidents involving groups of journalists from Russian media outlets occurred
throughout the year.
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On September 1, Transnistrian police detained a television crew from Publika

Television while travelling to a school in Corjova village to produce a piece on the
first day of school at a Latin script school. Transnistrian police detained the crew
on the grounds that they lacked a special authorization from the Transnistrian
Security Service. After a few hours of interrogation, police released the crew.
Censorship or Content Restriction: In many cases journalists practiced selfcensorship to avoid conflicts with the sponsors or owners of their media outlets. In
Transnistria journalists avoided criticizing separatist officials goal of
independence or their foreign policy to avoid official reprisals.
In 2013 a ruling by the Audiovisual Coordinating Council (ACC) went into effect
mandating television channels and radio stations to broadcast a minimum of 30
percent locally produced content and 50 percent local content in Romanian
language during prime time. Supporters claimed the ruling would spur the local
media market, but many media outlets warned authorities designed it to drive
smaller broadcasters out of business, since they could not afford to produce the
requisite volume of local content and would lose advertising money. These media
outlets took the ruling to court, which suspended it for the duration of the trial
period. In September 2014 the Supreme Court of Justice decided in favor of the
ACC, leaving its ruling in force.
On May 27, the ACC banned the retransmission of Russian channel Rossiya 24 on
the countrys territory after its monitoring report concluded that Russia 24 violated
the law by misinforming and manipulating public opinion about events in Ukraine.
Authorities sanctioned several other channels--Prime, Television 7, RTR Moldova,
and Ren Moldova--for rebroadcasting news and analytical programs from Russia
that were described as manipulative and propagandistic. The ban of Rossiya 24
came after a six-month suspension of the channel in 2014 for the same rationale.
In Transnistria authorities controlled all publishing houses and at times threatened
to stop the printing of independent newspapers, including one based in Bender and
another in the northern city of Ribnita. According to Transnistrian journalists, the
authorities took control of several media outlets in January, including TSV
television, Profsoiuznie Vesti newspaper, and Novaia Volna radio.
Libel/Slander Laws: Some newspapers practiced self-censorship and avoided
controversial issues due to concerns that government officials and other public
figures could use defamation laws to retaliate against critical news reports.
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Internet Freedom
The government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or censor online
content, and there were no credible reports that the government monitored private
online communications without appropriate legal authority. According to statistics
published by the Moldovan Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communication
and Information Technology, the number of mobile internet users increased by 4.3
percent in the first half of the year, reaching 1.2 million persons.
In August, Shevchuk issued a decree on combating extremism that empowered the
Transnistrian KGB to request the prosecutors office to block internet content.
Authorities would take such a determination following a review by a panel
appointed by the KGB.
Academic Freedom and Cultural Events
There were no government restrictions on academic or cultural events.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Freedom of Assembly
The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the government generally
respected this right.
Large-scale antigovernment protests took place during the year. The government
did not obstruct the protesters and provided adequate security and crowd control.
On May 17, more than 150 individuals attended the third officially sanctioned
march for the rights of LGBTI persons in central Chisinau. There were no reports
of significant incidents, but Orthodox Christian groups and Occupy Pedophilia
members held a counterdemonstration close to the march's perimeter. Heavy
police presence prevented altercations. Counterdemonstrators, among them young
men covering their faces, threw eggs at the marchers and set off firecrackers.
Police detained at least six persons.
Transnistrian law permits public assemblies but imposes prohibitions, including
against spontaneous assemblies, assemblies in certain public places, and the use of
sound-amplifying equipment. Authorities mostly limited public assemblies to a
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narrow range of activities. Most demonstrations in major cities in the region were
limited to the commemoration of historic events (for example, those linked to
WWII). Following the November 29 Transnistrian parliamentary and local
elections, representatives of the Transnistrian Communist Party and a number of
public associations organized a rally in front of the Central Electoral Commission
in Tiraspol, carrying placards protesting against alleged vote rigging and
supporting fair elections. Media reported that Transnistrian prosecutors initiated
administrative cases against some demonstrators.
Freedom of Association
The constitution provides for freedom of association and states that citizens are
free to form parties and other social and political organizations. The law prohibits
organizations engaged in fighting against political pluralism, the principles of the
rule of law, or the sovereignty and independence or territorial integrity of the
country.
On February 11, the Supreme Court of Justice rejected the appeal sent by the Falun
Dafa and Falun Gong Associations and maintained an earlier decision of the
Chisinau Court of Appeals to dissolve the two associations. The Falun Association
leaders stated that the decision was unfair and politically motivated. On November
23, the Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional the provision in the law on
fighting extremist activity which qualified as extremist activity the promotion and
public display of Nazi symbols or similar designs due to lack of clarity. The ruling
removed a previous obstacle to Falun Dafas ability to register.
In Transnistria authorities severely restricted freedom of association. Separatist
authorities granted the legal right of association only to persons they recognized as
citizens of Transnistria. All nongovernmental activities had to be coordinated with
local authorities. Groups that did not comply faced harassment, including visits
from security officials. Authorities strictly prohibited organizations favoring
reintegration with the rest of Moldova.
On April 17, the KGB of the Transnistrian region issued a statement describing
civil society organizations that receive funds from abroad as a threat to
Transnistrian security. The statement focused particularly on the activities of the
human rights organization Promo-Lex and said that a criminal investigation had
been opened into what the KGB termed a distinct threat posed by the NGOs
activities in Transnistria. Promo-Lex suspended its activities in the region due to

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inability to travel there for fear of detention as well as pressure from the authorities
on partner human rights organizations.
c. Freedom of Religion
See the Department of States International Religious Freedom Report
at www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.
d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of
Refugees, and Stateless Persons
The law provides for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration,
and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights. The
government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection
and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum
seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern. The Bureau for Migration
and Asylum under the Ministry of Internal Affairs managed refugee and asylum
issues.
Transnistrian authorities at times restricted the travel of its residents and other
Moldovans to and from the separatist region. Transnistrian authorities often
stopped and searched vehicles traveling between the region and the area controlled
by the central government.
Short-term visitors to Transnistria from government-controlled areas could remain
for up to 60 days. A longer stay required an official letter of invitation and
registration at a local passport office. Transnistrian authorities generally allowed
diplomats stationed in Chisinau entry into the region for routine visits if they
provided advance notification of the visits and disclosed general itineraries and
purposes.
Emigration and Repatriation: Although citizens generally may depart from and
return to the country freely, there were some limitations on emigration. Before
individuals may emigrate, the law requires them to settle all outstanding financial
obligations with other persons or legal entities. The government did not strictly
enforce this requirement. The law also provides that close relatives who are
financially dependent on a potential emigrant must concur before the prospective
emigrant may depart the country. Authorities did not enforce this law.

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Protection of Refugees
Access to Asylum: The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status,
and the government established a system for providing protection to refugees.
Refugee recognition was a slow and burdensome process. Authorities issued
refugees identity cards valid for five years; beneficiaries of humanitarian
protection received identification documents valid for one year; and asylum
seekers received temporary identification cards.
UNHCR provided refugees logistical, housing, and financial support. As of
September there were 554 persons registered in the national asylum system,
including 141 refugees, 138 asylum seekers, and 275 beneficiaries of humanitarian
protection. Most asylum seekers came from Ukraine (64) and Syria (19). Most
refugees were from Syria (76) and Afghanistan (15). Most beneficiaries of
humanitarian protection came from Syria (117), Ukraine (95), and Armenia (15).
Of the total number, 40 percent were women and children, and 10 percent were
elderly. A temporary accommodation center administered by the Bureau of
Migration and Asylum was available for asylum seekers.
Stateless Persons
There were approximately 3,000 stateless persons in the country, most of whom
resided in Transnistria. The largest numbers of stateless persons were ethnic
Ukrainians, Russians, Romanians, and Turks. The issuance of conventional travel
documents by the government was a problem during the year.
Citizenship may be acquired by birth in the country, inheritance from parents,
adoption, recovery, naturalization, or on the basis of certain international
agreements. The law grants citizenship to persons who resided in the historical
regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bucovina, the Herta region, and the territory of the
Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic prior to June 1940 as well as
their descendants. The law includes procedures for the determination of
statelessness.
Stateless persons and refugees may gain nationality through naturalization. The
law allows a stateless person who has resided legally in the country for eight years
to seek citizenship. The government issued residence permits for a period of up to
one year to stateless persons temporarily residing in the country at a cost ranging
from approximately 500 lei to 1,400 lei ($25 to $70), depending on the urgency of
the permit. Trafficking victims received residence permits free of charge.
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Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process

The law provides citizens the ability to choose their government through free and
fair periodic elections based on universal and equal suffrage, and citizens exercised
that ability.
Elections and Political Participation
Recent Elections: According to international observers, authorities generally well
administered the local elections on June 7 and the election runoffs on June 28 and
met most OSCE, Council of Europe, and other international standards. Confidence
in the electoral process, however, decreased following cases of abuse of temporary
voter registration provisions during the first round of elections. Authorities
respected voters rights with the exception of a few clashes over voter lists,
instances of misuse of administrative resources for campaign purposes, and
isolated vote-buying cases. The media informed the public about candidates and
their campaigns but generally failed to provide balanced coverage.
Political Parties and Political Participation: According to a monitoring report on
the coverage of local elections issued in May by the Center for Independent
Journalism, most media did not provide for sufficient pluralism of opinions,
instead promoting a political agenda and certain candidates. A number of media
outlets owned by political figures favored certain electoral contenders through a
large number of positive news items, while ignoring or discrediting other
candidates. OSCE and Promo-Lex election observation missions also reported
editorial bias.
Section 4. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government
Corruption remained the countrys most serious problem. While the law provides
criminal penalties for official corruption, the government failed to implement these
laws effectively. There was widespread corruption within the judiciary and other
state structures. In most cases prosecution for corruption was limited to low-level
public officials. On October 15, however, authorities stripped the leader of one of
the largest political parties, parliamentary faction head, and former prime minister
Vladimir Filat of parliamentary immunity and detained on suspicion of passive
corruption and influence-peddling. Some considered the case to be politically
motivated due to the timing and procedures followed for the investigation and pretrial detention.
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Corruption: In its State of Corruption report this year, Transparency International

noted that despite a high number of recently adopted anticorruption laws, bribery
rates remained high in the country, and most of the new regulations remained
largely ineffective due to the lack of clear sanctions for noncompliance or limited
political will to enforce them. The report stated that the decision by the
Constitutional Court to limit considerably the applicability of the Law on
Professional Integrity Testing was a step back in the countrys anticorruption
efforts. Observers also reported ineffective checks on government power,
impunity of government officials, and government interference in the delivery of
justice as reasons for high levels of corruption.
A statement made by Transparency International-Moldova noted that several
corruption scandals and the lack of official reaction to them resulted in public
disapproval of the government and large-scale protests. The term a captured
state was widely used by local and international experts to define the scope of
corruption in the country during the year. A study released in December by
Transparency International-Moldova estimated that the total level of bribes during
the year surpassed 1.24 billion lei ($63 million). Individual households paid most
bribes in the healthcare sector, police, and educational institutions. Businesses
paid most bribes in tax offices and in courts.
In a joint public appeal sent to parliament and government on September 29, a
number of prominent civil society organizations voiced concern over the
inefficient investigation of corruption offenses.
In an international conference on fighting corruption in September, the National
Anticorruption Center (NAC) director stated that the NAC was doing its utmost in
fighting corruption but that political factors and the judiciary were hindering a
number of NAC initiatives. Of approximately 500 persons criminally investigated
for corruption offenses annually, only 50 persons received prison sentences in the
previous few years.
Also in April, NAC officers detained the former minister of health and 15 other
senior health officials suspected of tampering with public tenders on procurement
of medical equipment and consumables in favor of two leading companies, in
exchange for 5 to 10 percent of the profits. Authorities charged the suspects with
corruption and abuse of authority. During the investigation the number of suspects
in the case increased to 30. In November authorities sent the case to court, and it
was pending trial at years end.
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In May, NAC officers detained the head of the Contravention Procedures Section
of the Chisinau Customs Office for requesting a bribe of $600 not to issue a
citation to a representative of a transportation company for lacking proper
documentation.
In April a prosecutor from Ocnita was sentenced to four years imprisonment and
received a five-year ban from holding office within law enforcement. In 2014 the
prosecutor was caught in the act of receiving a bribe of 400 euros ($440) for
adopting a favorable decision in a misdemeanor case.
NAC investigated 448 cases of corruption and connected offenses in 2014. As in
past years, investigation registered most corruption offenses in the judiciary (134
cases), local-level public administration (76 cases), state enterprises (68 cases), law
offices (22 cases), public health (16 cases), education (16 cases), and tax offices
(14 cases). NAC investigated judges, prosecutors, a former minister of internal
affairs, former regulatory institution heads, mayors, penitentiary directors, police
officers, lawyers, and other public officials. Courts issued 133 sentences for
corruption and connected offenses in 2014. No high-level public official served a
detention term for corruption during the year.
As of December the case involving 42 customs officials charged with corruption
was pending in court. All defendants remained free while under investigation.
The Internal Protection and Anticorruption Division in the Ministry of Internal
Affairs registered 84 cases of passive corruption involving 74 ministry employees
in 2014. Most corruption offenses involved employees of the Police Inspectorate
(76 cases), followed by the Border Police (four cases), the Bureau for Migration
and Asylum (two cases), and the ministrys healthcare services (two cases). The
division sent 19 cases to court and terminated another 19 for lack of conclusive
evidence. In 2014 the courts issued three sentences, including a three-year
suspended sentence, and two administrative sanctions for passive corruption. The
Ministry of Internal Affairs dismissed 27 employees and issued reprimands to three
employees for various offenses in 2014. The Anticorruption Division also reported
21 cases of influence peddling, 37 cases of abuse of power, and 51 cases of excess
of power.
Financial Disclosure: A number of laws require financial disclosure by public
officials, including state officials, judges, prosecutors, civil servants, and officials
holding leadership positions. By law all public officials must make public their
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income statements within 20 days of their appointment and before March 31 of

each calendar year for the duration of their term in office, but the government
enforced this requirement inconsistently.
The National Integrity Commission, an independent body tasked with auditing the
income statements and conflicts of interest of public officials, initiated 354
investigations in 2014. The commission found 54 violations in income and
property statements, 50 instances of conflict of interest, and 18 cases of
incompatibility. It referred 57 cases to the General Prosecutors Office and 56
cases to the NAC. The commission investigated five members of parliament, two
members of the legislature of the Gagauz Autonomous Unit, 39 judges, 12
prosecutors, 19 ministers and deputy ministers, seven district chairmen and deputychairmen, 42 mayors and deputy mayors, 28 state enterprises heads, 55 employees
of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as employees of the NAC, Customs
Service, and Department of Penitentiary Institutions. A number of government
officials, including the speaker of parliament, suggested a reform or closure of the
National Integrity Commission due to lack of effectiveness and no convictions of
public officials since the founding of the institution in 2013.
Public Access to Information: The law provides for free public access to official
information. The law contains a narrow list of grounds for nondisclosure,
including when information constitutes a state secret, a commercial secret,
personally identifiable information, operative criminal investigation data, or the
results of scientific and technical research. Authorities have 15 days to present the
requested information. Authorities may extend this timeline by five days when the
request refers to a large volume of data or additional consultations are necessary
for the release of information. Depending on the information requested,
institutions may charge processing fees for copying, translating, and delivering.
Requesters may legally challenge denials of access to information. The courts
established criminal and administrative sanctions for noncompliance.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A variety of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated
without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on
human rights cases. Government officials were somewhat cooperative and
responsive to their views.

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According to local and international experts, authorities in the Transnistrian region

subjected the activities of human rights NGOs to extensive monitoring from the
authorities and limited them to a narrow segment of human rights. There were
credible reports that no human rights NGO in the region dealt with serious human
rights violations due to fear of repressions and harassment from the authorities.
Government Human Rights Bodies: As of December the Human Rights
Ombudsman was not operational because of administrative and budgetary
constraints. In April parliament confirmed only one of the two required
ombudsmen. One position is designated for adults, known as the peoples
ombudsman, and the other one for children. A parliamentary committee selects the
ombudsmen in an open competition. A majority vote in parliament results in their
appointment to a seven-year, nonrenewable term. The peoples ombudsman
position examines claims of human rights violations, advises parliament and other
state institutions on human rights problems, acts as a mediator, submits legislative
initiatives to parliament, submits legislation to the Constitutional Court for review,
and files human rights cases with courts. The childrens ombudsman position
provides for the protection of childrens rights without requiring the consent of
parents or legal guardians and has authority to initiate legal proceedings in court.
The national mechanism to prevent torture is affiliated with this institution in line
with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
Parliament also had a separate standing committee for Human Rights and
Interethnic Relations.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, ethnicity,
national origin, citizenship, language, religion, belief, age, opinion, political
affiliation, or social status, but the government did not always enforce these
prohibitions effectively.
The law prohibits discrimination on 11 characteristics, including gender, race, and
disability, as well as employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Women
Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape or forcible sexual assault
and establishes penalties for violations ranging from three years to life in prison.
The law also criminalizes spousal rape.
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Rape remained a problem, and there were no specific government rape prevention
activities. During the first seven months of the year, prosecutors initiated 125
criminal cases of rape, a 23 percent decrease from 2014. Of these cases authorities
dismissed 21 cases and forwarded 35 to the courts for trial; the rest of the cases
remained under investigation or awaited an indictment. According to NGOs many
rapes were unreported due to social stigma and a lengthy and often corrupt judicial
process. The NGO La Strada noted that victims did not report rapes due to
possible derogatory treatment based on past cases when perpetrators bribed police,
prosecutors, and judges for a favorable decision. Stigma associated with
identification as a victim of rape and victims being seen as complicit were other
factors deterring victims from reporting cases of rape. Police reportedly used poor
investigative techniques and often mishandled rape cases, which further
discouraged victim cooperation.
Rape remained a crime with a low rate of effective police investigation, with
charges mainly based on survivor testimony, and law enforcement officers
generally used a confrontation (face-to-face interview) with the perpetrator to
verify the survivors statement. The experience frequently traumatized survivors,
and few managed to maintain their testimony under such conditions.
In the first seven months of the year, police registered 926 cases of domestic
violence, 200 cases fewer than in the same period of 2014. According to police the
decrease was due to better prevention and deterrence measures taken by law
enforcement against the perpetrators. Of these cases authorities sent 560 to trial
and dismissed 34. According to Promo-Lex, one in seven women in rural areas
experienced at least one act of physical violence in her lifetime.
Domestic violence investigations remained problematic when police officers
themselves were the offenders. In such cases law enforcement officers tended to
side with the offender, and the victim would need to appeal to the European Court
of Human Rights. The process was lengthy, and authorities did not protect victims
from their abusers during the proceedings.
The law defines domestic violence as a criminal offense, provides for the
punishment of perpetrators, defines mechanisms for obtaining restraining orders
against abusive individuals, and extends protection to unmarried individuals and
children of unmarried individuals. The maximum punishment for family violence
offenses is 15 years imprisonment.

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The law permits excluding an abuser from lodging shared with the victim,
regardless of who owns the property. The law also provides for psychiatric
evaluation and counseling, forbids abusers from approaching victims either at
home or at work, and restricts child visitation rights pending a criminal
investigation. Courts may apply such protective measures for a period of three
months and may extend them upon the victims request or following repeated acts
of violence.
Progress in protecting women and children against domestic violence improved
during the year, compared with previous years, due to increased attention to the
issue through training and media campaigns. The Ministry of Internal Affairs
continued capacity building in this field including training sessions for police
officers handling domestic violence cases. According to various NGOs and the
UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the issuance of protective orders and the
effectiveness of their implementation depended on the attitude of authorities.
Reports that police officers were not diligent in ensuring either proper protection of
victims or proper execution of measures prescribed by protective orders continued.
NGOs maintained that authorities relied excessively on NGOs to publicize
available remedies and assist victims in requesting protection. The situation
improved slightly with an increased number of protective orders issued in a timely
manner, with the law requiring issuance within 24 hours. NGOs expressed
concern that authorities were insufficiently proactive in combating indifferent
attitudes towards domestic violence among police, prosecutors, and social workers.
According to NGO reports, in most cases abusers continued their mistreatment
undeterred. There were reported cases of authorities issuing protective orders one
month after mistreatment allegedly occurred.
Public perception of domestic violence as a private problem persisted. Authorities
generally relied on civil society to raise awareness.
NGOs reported cases in which authorities issued conflicting protective orders,
providing both the abuser and the victim with protection against the other and
resulting in confusion in courts.
In 2014 more than 1,500 police officers, social assistants, and doctors received
special training in responding to domestic violence. Additionally, 150 judges and
prosecutors received the same training during the year. While courts increased the
number of protective orders issued, police did not always implement such orders
effectively. Observers stated police approach to domestic violence improved
slightly, but judges and prosecutors often failed to take the crimes seriously.
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Authorities continued to classify protection order violations continued as

administrative infractions, which meant authorities could not open criminal
proceedings against offenders unless they violated the order on multiple occasions.
The law provides for cooperation between government and civil society
organizations, establishes victim protection as a human rights principle, and allows
third parties to file complaints on behalf of victims.
After their release from detention, abusers commonly returned to their homes and
continued to abuse. Fines often had the effect of significantly reducing overall
household income, further harming the spouses and children of abusers. Victims
of domestic violence were frequently reluctant to come forward because of
economic dependence on their abusers, particularly if the family had children.
The government supported educational efforts, usually undertaken with foreign
assistance, to increase public awareness of domestic violence and to instruct the
public and law enforcement officials on how to address the problem. Private
organizations provided services for abused spouses, including a hotline for battered
women. Access to such assistance remained difficult for some.
The NGO La Strada operated a hotline to report domestic violence, offered victims
psychological and legal aid, and provided victims with options for follow-up
assistance.
In Transnistria the law does not specifically prohibit violence against women, and
the extent of domestic violence was difficult to estimate. According to the most
recent survey in Transnistria, approximately 22 percent of women reported having
been subjected to physical violence, 36 percent reported experiencing physical
violence from their partners at least once, while 60 percent reported instances of
psychological violence. Most victims of domestic violence did not file complaints
with police.
Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment remained a common problem. The law
provides criminal penalties for sexual harassment ranging from a fine to a
maximum of two years imprisonment. The law prohibits sexual advances that
affect a persons dignity or create an unpleasant, hostile, degrading, or humiliating
environment in a workplace or educational institution. According to NGOs law
enforcement agencies steadily improved their handling of sexual harassment cases,
by addressing harassment of students by university professors and several
instances of workplace harassment.
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Reproductive Rights: Although there were no reports of authorities denying

Romani women obstetrical, childbirth, or postpartum care, many Romani women
did not take advantage of free government-administered medical care during
pregnancy.
Women in psychiatric institutions and social care homes lacked access to
contraceptives. These institutions also registered isolated cases of forced
abortions.
Discrimination: The law provides for women to enjoy the same legal status as men
under family, labor, property, nationality, and inheritance law, and in the judicial
system. The law requires equal pay for equal work, which authorities generally
respected during the year. The National Bureau of Statistics reported an almost
equal proportion of men and women employed, with 51 percent and 49 percent,
respectively. An assessment of the National Action Plan on Gender Equality for
2010-15 reported a reduction in the gap between wages for men and women from
28 percent in 2010 to 12.4 percent in 2015. In 2014 a woman received 87.6
percent of a mans wage. The ratio of women in decision-making positions
slightly increased during the year. The number of women in law enforcement and
in the army also increased. During the year 23 percent of those serving in the army
were women.
Children
Birth Registration: Citizenship may be acquired by birth in the country,
inheritance from parents, adoption, recovery, or naturalization, or through certain
international agreements. Registration of birth is free of charge for all citizens.
The lack of registration certificates for a number of children, especially in rural
areas and in Romani families, remained a problem. Observers estimated that more
than 1,000 children lacked identification documents.
Education: Primary education was free and compulsory until the ninth grade. The
Ministry of Education continued the reform process and restructured or closed
many schools in rural areas that experienced a drop in population.
Education of Romani children remained a problem during the year, with only half
of the children in Romani communities attending school. For example, in the
secondary school in Vulcanesti village, Nisporeni raion, only 15 of the 180
Romani students enrolled attended school and only one in five children attended
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preschool institutions. According to Romani representatives, absenteeism and

school dropout in Romani communities was due to poverty and fear of
discrimination.
Child Abuse: Although the law prohibits child neglect and specific forms of abuse
such as forced begging, child abuse remained a problem. A special unit for minors
and human rights was responsible for ensuring that particular attention and
expertise was devoted to child victims or child offenders. According to UNICEF
the unit faced organizational difficulties, since its work often overlapped with that
of other sections, thus creating conflicting competencies.
During the first six months of the year (second half of the 2014-15 academic year),
the Ministry of Education reported 5,987 cases of violence against children, which
was a decrease of 1,256 cases compared with the period September-December
2014 (first half of the academic year). The ministry also reported 104 cases of
child labor exploitation, 22 cases of sexual abuse, and one case of child trafficking.
The number of severe cases of child violence increased from 544 during
September-December 2014 to 850 cases in January-June. The reporting was part
of a Ministry of Education strategy to prevent and combat violence against
children, launched in 2013.
A UNICEF study published in 2014 revealed that 76 percent of children under the
age of 14 were subjected to violence at least once during their lives. In 45 percent
of the cases, children were subjected to physical violence, while 69 percent
reported psychological violence.
According to the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and Family, inadequate
victim services, a lack of reliable methods to track cases, and insufficient legal
mechanisms to prevent abuse or to provide special protection to victims hampered
efforts to protect children. The ministry noted that more than 25 percent of minors
reported that their parents had beaten them and 15 percent stated they lacked food
and care. Approximately 10 percent of parents admitted abusing their children
emotionally or physically.
Early and Forced Marriage: The legal minimum age for marriage is 16 for women
and 18 for men. There were no official statistics regarding child marriages.
Sexual Exploitation of Children: The Prosecutor Generals Office is responsible
for investigating and prosecuting child sexual abuse cases. Authorities punished
commercial sex with minors as statutory rape. The minimum age for consensual
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34
sex is 16. The law prohibits the production, distribution, broadcasting, import,
export, sale, exchange, use, or possession of child pornography, and violators face
one to three years imprisonment.
Observers reported cases of prostitution of children and child sex tourism during
the year.
Institutionalized Children: The deinstitutionalization of children continued during
the year. Authorities have closed more than 20 boarding schools since 2007,
resulting in a 40 percent decrease in the number of institutionalized children.
NGOs estimated that 25 percent of the children in orphanages had one or two
living parents, but parents abandoned them when they left the country in search of
employment. Children in residential institutions were subject to a greater risk of
unemployment, sexual exploitation, trafficking, and suicide compared with their
peers raised in families.
UNICEF estimated that 50 percent of institutionalized children had disabilities.
The Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and Family maintained boarding schools
for children with disabilities and institutions providing temporary (up to one year)
shelter, counseling, and other assistance for children from socially vulnerable
families.
During the year the Ministry of Education continued to implement the national
action plan to reform the residential-care system for children. The ministry
reported a decrease by 14.9 percent of the number of children placed in special
educational institutions since 2013 and an increase by 70 percent of the inclusion
rate of children with disabilities in mainstream schools. The country has a national
program for the development of inclusive education for 2011-20 that provided for
the closure or reorganization of 23 residential institutions (including boarding
schools) by the end of the year.
In September an investigative journalism video report revealed poor conditions and
staff use of physical violence at the Orhei State Institution for Mentally Disabled
Children, which housed 200 children. As a result of the video, the Ministry of
Labor, Social Protection, and Family opened an investigation into the allegations
and dismissed the director of the institution.
As of October there were approximately 1,725 children without parental
guardianship in Transnistria. Of that number, 1,048 were under some form of

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35
physical guardianship, 643 placed in government institutions, and 34 raised in

family-style foster homes.
International Child Abductions: The country is a party to the 1980 Hague
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. For
information see the Department of States report on compliance
at travel.state.gov/content/childabduction/en/legal/compliance.html and countryspecific information
at travel.state.gov/content/childabduction/en/country/Moldova.html.
Anti-Semitism
The Jewish community numbered between 15,000 and 25,000 persons, including
2,000 living in Transnistria. The Jewish community reported one act of vandalism
during the year. On the night of October 26, unknown individuals drew swastikas
and wrote offensive messages on the walls of a Jewish school in Chisinau.
Investigators opened a criminal case, but authorities had not identified the
perpetrators by years end.
On several occasions, Jewish community leaders criticized the governments
efforts to combat anti-Semitism as insufficient. Property restitution continued to
be a problem for the Jewish community, and Moldovan legislation does not yet
exist to address it.
In an effort to promote tolerance and eradicate anti-Semitism and xenophobia, on
November 26, parliament passed a law instituting January 27 as the Day of
Commemorating the Victims of the Holocaust.
Trafficking in Persons
See the Department of States Trafficking in Persons Report
at www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/.
Persons with Disabilities
The law prohibits discrimination against persons with physical, sensory,
intellectual, and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to public
facilities, health care, or the provision of other government services, but authorities
rarely enforced the law.

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The law provides protection for persons with disabilities against discrimination in
employment, education, health care, and public life. The law prohibits
construction companies from designing or constructing buildings without specific
access for persons with disabilities and requires transportation companies to equip
their vehicles to meet the needs of persons with disabilities. The law also requires
that land, railroad, and air transportation authorities provide access for persons
with disabilities and adapt public spaces and transportation to provide access for
wheelchair users. The airport administration must provide an escort for persons
with disabilities. Authorities implemented the provisions of the law only to a
limited extent during the year.
A joint report released in July by the Mental Disability Advocacy Center in
partnership with the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
found that despite some progress in advancing the rights of persons with
disabilities in the country through expanded inclusive and community-based
services, there remained a number of shortcomings. The report noted that more
than 1,700 children with mental or intellectual disabilities remained in segregated
educational institutions, while authorities deprived an estimated 3,000 to 4,000
persons of their legal capacity and were under the full control of guardians (they
could not marry, divorce, sign an employment contract, refuse medication, etc.).
Many guardians chose to place persons with disabilities in closed institutions
against their will. Observers also recorded violence and abuse, including cases of
rape and forced abortion in segregated institutions for mentally disabled persons.
In May parliament amended the law to provide equal voting rights for all persons
with disabilities, and persons with mental disabilities were able to vote for the first
time in years.
The law entitles children with disabilities to home schooling provided by the
government, but this service was limited in rural areas. In many cases children
with disabilities declined schooling to avoid discrimination. Schools were often ill
equipped to address the needs of children with disabilities. Some children with
disabilities attended mainstream schools, while authorities placed others in
boarding schools, including special boarding schools, or were home schooled.
In Transnistria children with disabilities rarely attended school and lacked access
to specialized resources.
Official regulations mandate access to buildings for persons with disabilities.
While many newly built or reconstructed buildings were accessible, older buildings
often were not. More than 70 percent of public institutions lacked access ramps for
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37
persons with disabilities. According to the Motivatie association for persons with
disabilities, only 1 percent of buildings in Chisinau were accessible. Even where
ramps existed, they frequently did not fit a standard wheelchair, or they were too
steep or slippery. Most ramps at street crossings did not provide adequate access
for wheelchair users. Persons with limited mobility complained about the lack of
access to public transportation and public institutions as well as the shortage of
designated parking places. The Social Assistance Division in the Ministry of
Labor, Social Protection, and Family and the National Labor Force Agency were
responsible for protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities. During the
year a young man with a significant mobility disability sued the bus companies
because he was repeatedly denied entrance into buses due to his disability. The
lawsuit was the first of this kind and, as of October, was under examination in the
courts.
On October 30, the Civil Aviation Authority organized for the first time training
for air operators, flight attendants, and airport handling personnel on rules for
serving passengers with disabilities. The trainings covered such aspects as the
rights of the persons with disabilities for the duration of the air travel, efficient
nondiscriminatory communication, support for persons with mobility disabilities,
and use of wheelchairs.
The range of social services available to persons with disabilities included
specialized services, such as social assistance, support, and counseling to foster
social inclusion. There were 114 community service centers for persons with
disabilities serving approximately 4,700 beneficiaries. There were also 16 mobile
support groups providing social assistance, medical, and psychological support to
481 beneficiaries. The government budgeted 9.5 million lei ($475,000) for
services to persons with disabilities during the year. In October 2014 the
government adopted a decision to pay a daily allowance of 10 lei ($0.64), a
birthday allowance of 100 lei ($6.40), and holiday allowances of 70 lei ($4.50) to
at risk children placed in community houses. On December 3, the government
earmarked 16 million lei ($811,000) in allowances for approximately 40,000
persons with disabilities on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with
Disabilities.
There were 7,000 persons nationwide with vision disabilities, 3,500 of whom were
completely blind. The Central Election Commission tested for the first time a pilot
project and provided ballots in Braille in all polling stations for persons with visual
disabilities during the local elections in June.

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One of the citys biggest stores repeatedly refused a blind man entrance; the guards
stated that he had no business being there unless accompanied by seeing persons.
The guards physically refused the person entrance, and only threats of police
involvement compelled the store administration to let the person enter the store.
According to a study completed in June, only 43 percent of persons with
disabilities in Moldova were employed.
Persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities in residential institutions and
psychiatric hospitals were the most vulnerable to abuse. According to the
ombudsman for psychiatry, there were serious violations in many psychiatric and
related institutions, including physical, sexual, and psychological abuses,
malnutrition, forced medication, forced abortions, and a lack of legal protection for
individuals with mental disabilities. Many such individuals were isolated in
psychiatric institutions. A June 2014 report by the UN special rapporteur on
extreme poverty and human rights noted that authorities continued to commit
severe abuses, such as neglect, mental and physical abuse, and sexual violence
against persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities. The rapporteur
raised concerns about unsanitary and unhygienic conditions. Authorities used
forced abortions in psychiatric and social care institutions prevent births.
With UN support the government set up a National Health Management Center
within the Ministry of Health to handle complaints filed by persons with social,
neurological, or intellectual disabilities. At the same time, 13 lawyers provided
free legal services to residents in psychiatric institutions.
The mortality rate in mental-health institutions was significantly higher than in
other health-care institutions. Authorities conducted no conclusive investigations
on deaths in these institutions. The level of treatment in psychiatric facilities was
substandard.
Human rights observers criticized the countrys guardianship system. A person
placed under guardianship loses all standing before the law and cannot engage in
social and legal acts, such as marriage, voting, claiming social benefits, consenting
to medication, or refusing medication.
Although the law provides for equal employment opportunities and prohibits
discrimination against persons with disabilities (with the exception of jobs
requiring specific health standards), many employers either failed to accommodate
or avoided employing such persons. The law requires that 5 percent of the
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39
workforce in companies with 20 or more employees be persons with disabilities.

Persons with disabilities are legally entitled to two months of paid annual leave and
a six-hour workday, benefits that made employers less willing to hire them.
Transnistrian legislation provides for protection of the rights of persons with
disabilities in the areas of education, health care, and employment. Reliable
information about the treatment of persons with disabilities in Transnistria was
unavailable.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Roma continued to be one of the most vulnerable minority groups in the country,
but there were fewer reported cases of societal discrimination during the year.
Roma had lower levels of education, more limited access to healthcare, and higher
rates of unemployment than the general population (see section 7.d.).
While the 2004 census counted 12,271 Roma in the country, independent surveys
estimated a total population of between 15,000 and 28,000. NGOs asserted that
government census forms allowed persons to identify with only one ethnic group,
and many Roma declined to identify themselves as such.
The literacy level of Roma was well below the national average. According to
Romani families, both fellow students and teachers subjected their children to
discrimination. Authorities lacked an effective mechanism to address vulnerable
families whose children did not attend school.
Approximately 60 percent of Romani families lived in rural areas. Some Romani
communities lacked running water, sanitation facilities, and heating. Other
problems facing Roma included lack of emergency health-care services in secluded
settlements, unfair or arbitrary treatment by health practitioners, a gap between
Roma and non-Roma in rates of coverage by health insurance, and discrimination
against Roma in the job market. The unemployment rate for Roma was 29 percent,
compared with 6.7 percent for the non-Romani population. There were only three
Roma elected to councils within the local public administration.
In 2013 the government decided to establish local government mediators within
Romani communities and allocated 1.6 million lei ($103,000) to the program. The
community mediators acted as intermediaries between the Romani community and
local public authorities, mediated disputes, and facilitated the communitys access

MOLDOVA
40
to public services. In some rural areas, mayors were reluctant to employ Romani
community mediators.
In Transnistria authorities continued to discriminate against Romanian speakers.
Transnistrian authorities exerted various forms of pressure on the eight Latin-script
Romanian-language schools operated by the Moldovan Ministry of Education in
the region. While the Transnistrian constitution forbids the use of the Latin
alphabet, and reading or writing in the Latin script is punishable by a fine of
approximately 480 lei ($30), the extent of enforcement of this rule was unknown.
Acts of Violence, Discrimination, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual
Orientation and Gender Identity
The law prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Societal discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity continued
during the year.
As of October the NGO Genderdoc-M reported nine cases of violations of the
rights of the LGBTI persons examined in court, including three hate crimes, three
cases of discrimination, two cases of instigation to hatred, and one case regarding
the change of identity documents for transsexual persons. Three other cases were
under investigation.
Most crimes were perpetrated against gay men, but verbal and physical abuse
against lesbians was also reported. In most cases police officers were reluctant to
open cases against the perpetrators. In one instance Genderdoc-M reported that it
required intervention by its lawyer before police acted.
In June a lesbian, who a neighbor had continually harassed, was beaten and
insulted. The perpetrator allegedly stated that persons like her did not deserve to
live and claimed that, even if he beat her up, authorities would not hold him
accountable. The victim filed a complaint with police, who refused to accept it.
According to Genderdoc-M, the intervention of their lawyer compelled police to
accept the complaint. When the victim returned home, she was assaulted again.
Police were alerted and detained the perpetrator. The case continued at years end.
Civil society organizations reported that transgender individuals were unable to
change identity documents during or following gender reassignment, and they
experienced employment discrimination (see section 7.d.).

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On May 17, more than 150 individuals attended the third officially sanctioned
march for the rights of LGBTI persons in central Chisinau. There were no reports
of significant incidents, but Orthodox Christian groups and Occupy Pedophilia
members held a counterdemonstration close to the march's perimeter. Heavy
police presence prevented altercations. Counterdemonstrators, among them young
men covering their faces, threw eggs at the marchers and set off firecrackers.
Police detained at least six persons. Following the march a group from Occupy
Pedophilia walked towards the Genderdoc-M premises, but police stopped them
before they reached the building.
While authorities allowed individuals to change their names (for example, from a
male to a female name), the government did not allow persons to change the
gender listed on their identity cards or passports. In 2012 the Supreme Court of
Justice issued a nonbinding recommendation to lower courts that transgender
individuals be permitted to change the gender on their civil documents. In 2012
the Ministry of Health established a commission to determine gender identity and
issue certificates that can be used to apply for new documents.
In Transnistria consensual same-sex activity is illegal, and authorities subjected
LGBTI persons to governmental and societal discrimination.
HIV and AIDS Social Stigma
Persons living with HIV continued to face societal and official discrimination. In
the most recent demographic and health survey for the country (2005), 89 percent
of women and 90.3 percent of men reported discriminatory attitudes towards those
living with HIV.
The law prohibits hospitals and other health institutions from denying admission or
access to health care services or requesting additional fees from persons with HIV
or suspected of being HIV-positive. The Moldovan Institute for Human Rights and
the UN human rights advisor representatives reported instances where health care
institutions refused appropriate medical treatment and discriminated against HIVpositive patients because of their status. For example, in August 2014 medical
officials refused an HIV-positive patient medical care when the patient sought a
doctors consultation at a hospital in Ceadir-Lunga. The doctor refused to treat the
patient and placed a note in the patients medical records, stating that he did so
because of her HIV status and the threat that she posed to his health. The patient
complained to the Moldovan Institute for Human Rights, which requested an
explanation from the hospital. In a December 2014 letter, the hospital
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42
administration dismissed the allegations, noting that the patient divulged her HIV
status. On May 12, the Ceadir-Lunga court determined that the doctor
discriminated against the patient based on her HIV status and violated her right to
medical treatment. The court ordered the patient be paid 10,000 lei ($500) in
moral damages. The hospital appealed the ruling, and it remained pending at
years end.
During the year there were reports of several cases of HIV-positive children forced
to leave school after medical professionals violated confidentiality laws and
divulged their HIV status to the educational institutions.
Section 7. Worker Rights
a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining
The law provides workers the right to form and join independent unions, bargain
collectively, and conduct legal strikes. The government generally respected these
rights with limitations. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination but does not
provide for the reinstatement of workers fired for union activity. Restrictions in
the law specifically forbid police and members of the armed forces from joining
unions. The law does not allow government workers and workers in essential
services, such as law enforcement, health care providers and public utility
employees to strike. The law prohibits strikes during natural disasters, epidemics,
pandemics, as well as in times of state emergency. Authorities may impose
compulsory arbitration at the request of one party to a dispute.
The State Labor Inspectorate within the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and
Family and prosecutors subordinate to the Prosecutor Generals Office have
responsibility for enforcing provisions of labor law, but failed to monitor and
enforce the right to organize effectively. The law does not provide effective
sanctions for violations of freedom of association or stipulate penalties for
violating trade union rights.
Resources, inspections, and remediation were generally inadequate. The labor
code requires the inspectorate to collaborate with other institutions, including
business organizations and trade unions. According to the National Trade Union
Confederation of Moldova (CNSM), prosecutors did not initiate any criminal
investigations for infringement of the right to organize and bargain collectively
during the year. The CNSM maintained there was little cooperation between the
Prosecutor Generals Office and trade unions. The CNSM leadership believed that
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43
the Prosecutor Generals Office was politically affiliated with, and unwilling to
initiate cases against, powerful business interests.
The CNSM formed its own labor inspectorate in 2012 to protect employee rights.
From January to March, the office carried out 102 inspections, visiting companies
with 16, 195 employees and documenting 1, 104 violations, including 840 health
and safety standard infringements and 264 labor law infringements. Additionally,
37 violations were related to infringements of trade unions rights for
noncompliance with collective labor agreements at the national, sectoral, or
company level. The CNSM does not have a legal right to enforce the law, but
regularly consulted employers and employees on the application of labor law,
negotiated employer compliance, and advanced worker rights. Some employers
refused to negotiate the creation of a trade union organization. Prosecutors may
reject appeals by trade unions alleging antiunion behavior, and authorities did not
punish alleged violations of the trade union law during the year.
Authorities did not always respect the right to bargain collectively. Unions could
acquire legal status only if they were members of national, sectoral, or intersectoral
organizations. Employers resisted the creation of new unions. Workers exercised
the right to strike by conducting legal strikes during the year.
b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, with exceptions. The law and a
government decision allow central and local authorities, as well as military bodies,
to mobilize the adult population under certain conditions, such as in the event of a
national disaster, and to employ such labor to develop the national economy. The
government did not invoke this provision during the year. Resources, inspections,
and remediation for forced labor were generally inadequate. Penalties for persons
who engage workers in forced labor range from five to 20 years imprisonment and
were sufficiently stringent to deter violations but seldom imposed.
The government did not effectively enforce the law. Men and women were
subjected to labor trafficking to Ukraine and Russia. Criminals subjected
Moldovan women, boys, and girls to sexual exploitation in the country and the
region. Official complicity in trafficking was a significant problem in the country.
Also see the Department of States Trafficking in Persons Report
at www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/.

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c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment

The minimum age for unrestricted employment is 18. The law permits juveniles
between the ages of 16 and 18 to work under special conditions, including shorter
workdays (35 work hours per week), but prohibits their working night, weekend, or
holiday shifts or overtime. Only with written permission from a parent or
guardian, 15-year-old children may work, and work for children between the ages
of 15 and 16 should not exceed 24 hours per week. The law prohibits the worst
forms of child labor and provides for three to 15 years imprisonment for persons
engaging children in the worst forms of child labor; under aggravated
circumstances courts can increase the sentence to life imprisonment.
Authorities did not effectively enforce legal protections, and child labor remained a
problem. Parents who owned or worked on farms often sent children to work in
fields or to find other employment. According to a 2010 UNICEF study, an
estimated 109,000 children, or 18 percent of children, fell into the category of child
laborers, 63 percent of whom were between five and 14 years of age and 91
percent of whom were from rural areas. The vast majority of child laborers
worked in family businesses or family farms.
Children were subjected to trafficking within and outside the country for labor,
begging, and sexual exploitation. NGOs maintained that authorities officially
registered and assisted only a small percentage of cases of human trafficking, and
that the actual number of victims was unknown. Criminals subjected boys and
girls to commercial sexual exploitation (see section 6, Children).
Also see the Department of Labors Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor
at www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/findings/.
d. Discrimination with Respect for Employment and Occupation
The law prohibits discrimination based on sex, age, race, color, nationality,
religion, political opinion, social origin, residence, disability, HIV-positive status,
membership or activity in trade unions, as well as other criteria unrelated to the
professional qualities such as sexual orientation. The law requires employers to
provide for equal opportunity and treatment of all employees without
discrimination, to apply the same criteria to assess each employees work, and to
provide for equal conditions for men and women relating to work and family
obligations. The law defines and prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination
as well as the worst forms of discrimination, which include discrimination based
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45
on two or more protected grounds. The law also provides for a Council to Prevent
and Combat Discrimination and Ensure Equality responsible for reviewing
complaints of discrimination and making recommendations. The government did
not effectively enforce the law. Discrimination in employment and occupation
occurred with respect to gender, presence of a disability, minority status, sexual
orientation and gender identity, and HIV-positive status (see section 6).
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
There are separate minimum wages for the public and private sectors. In May the
government set the minimum monthly wage for the private sector at 1,900 lei
($100) per month (based on average 169 work hours per month), while the
minimum monthly wage for public sector employees remained unchanged at 1,000
lei ($52). According to official data, the minimum monthly subsistence level was
1,725 lei ($96) in the first half of the year. According to CNSM salary arrears
were more than 150 million lei ($8 million) as of August.
The law sets the maximum workweek at 40 hours with extra compensation for
overtime and provides for at least one day off per week. The law prohibits
excessive compulsory overtime. Foreign and migrant workers have the same legal
status as domestic workers.
The labor code requires work contracts for employment. Employers must register
these contracts with local officials, with copies sent to the local labor inspectorates.
Through August the State Labor Inspectorate reported 648 persons were employed
at 281 enterprises without proper documents, including 200 women and 27 minors.
There were no reports of work contracts in the agricultural sector, where the
central government did not have an effective mechanism to monitor compliance.
The government effectively enforced minimum wage, hours of work, and
occupational health and safety standards in the formal sector. Enforcement in the
informal sector was inadequate. The law requires the government to establish and
monitor safety standards in the workplace, and the State Labor Inspectorate was
responsible for enforcing health and safety standards. During the first nine months
of the year, the office performed 4,551 inspections, 2,081 of which were health and
safety inspections and 2,470 involved labor relations/legislation. The office
inspected more than 4,078 companies (enterprises, institutions, and organizations)
employing more than 165,100 persons, including 77,500 women and 36 minors. It
documented 42,260 infringements, including 19,740 of health and safety standards
and 22,520 of labor laws. Penalties for violations ranged from 400 lei ($20) to
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46
10,000 lei ($500) and were insufficient to deter violations. Additionally, the
inspections were less effective because the inspectorate had to inform businesses
prior to inspection, allowing managers to hide violations before the visits.
A thriving informal economy accounted for a significant portion of the countrys
economic activity. The State Labor Inspectorate is the main agency responsible for
monitoring and enforcement of compliance with labor legislation. The
inspectorate had 109 employees, 22 of whom worked in the central office and 87 in
10 regional branches. According to union representatives, the informal economy
employed approximately 50 percent of the workforce. Workers in the informal
economy did not have the same legal protections as employees in the formal
sector. There are no government programs providing social protections for
workers in the informal economy.
Poor economic conditions led enterprises to spend less on safety equipment and to
pay insufficient attention to worker safety. During the first nine months of year,
the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and Family reported 270 accidents at
work. The State Labor Inspectorate investigated 86 accidents, while special
committees at the respective companies investigated other cases. State inspectors
reported 30 serious accidents that severely injured 30 employees as well as 13
incidents that resulted in 13 deaths; the remaining accidents remained under
investigation. According to labor law, workers can remove themselves from
situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment.
State Labor Inspectorate representatives noted severe financial and legal
constraints on inspectors activities, ranging from a lack of internet access,
training, and fuel for inspectors to a system of incentives that encouraged
employers to pay minimal fines for violations rather than address underlying
problems.


US Department of State - Human Rights Report 2015

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US Department of State - Human Rights Report 2015

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MOLDOVA 2015 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

Authorities downgraded to lesser offenses some incidents of alleged police torture,

visit to the country in September, Catalina Devandas-Aguilar, the UN special

Conditions in most prisons and detention centers, including those in Transnistria,

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

A mediation law establishes an alternative mechanism for voluntarily resolving

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

media and the advertising market, especially in television, adversely affected

On September 1, Transnistrian police detained a television crew from Publika

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process

Corruption: In its State of Corruption report this year, Transparency International

income statements within 20 days of their appointment and before March 31 of

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

According to local and international experts, authorities in the Transnistrian region

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Authorities continued to classify protection order violations continued as

Reproductive Rights: Although there were no reports of authorities denying

preschool institutions. According to Romani representatives, absenteeism and

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

physical guardianship, 643 placed in government institutions, and 34 raised in

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

workforce in companies with 20 or more employees be persons with disabilities.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015

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